SuzySushi

Oh, yes! AU spatchcock = a small chicken; Cornish hen is the closest equivalent AU capsicum = bell pepper or chile pepper (you have to figure which one out from the recipe) AU rocket = arugala

You're welcome! The ones that puzzled me most were "tasty cheese" and "chicken Maryland," until I asked someone whose wife grew up in New Zealand! I don't think most of the other cooking terms are different... I'm able to follow Australian recipes pretty well. Re: baking sheets & pans, you should be okay with the others you have. A half-inch difference between one and another won't alter recipes that much. The main one that's different seems to be the lamington pan, which is used like we'd use a an 8" or 9" square pan for brownies & such. I've never been to Australia, BTW, but have a lot of Australian cookbooks, which I use often. They have a different take on cuisine than American cookbooks, and the food is just different enough to make it interesting. As I said, the AWW cookbooks are gems. Every recipe I've ever tried from them has turned out perfectly.

Yes. That's why, in Australian cookbooks, you'll see the same recipe calling for "3 teaspoons" and "1 tablespoon."

Thanks, Syrah! That's what AWW says about custard powder. If I were to make a recipe calling for custard powder in the USA I'd probably pick up a package of Birds (which I can find in my local supermarket -- a lot of Australian "snowbirds" have second homes in Hawaii).

Scalded milk = milk heated to just below the boiling point. Pour the milk into a saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium heat. Remove milk from the heat when bubbles begin to form around the edges inside the pan.

Bring measuring cups & spoons. Australian measurements are different from U.S., British, and metric. The Australian Women's Weekly, BTW, publishes an excellent series of oversized paperback cookbooks (especially the older ones available on eBay). The backs of the books also give translations of Australian ingredients & terms into American English. Some of the ones I've noticed are: AU biscuits = cookies AU castor sugar = superfine sugar AU chicken Maryland = chicken leg quarter AU choc bits = chocolate chips AU choc melts = discs of compounded chocolate (like Wilton products for candy-making) AU cornflour = cornstarch AU custard powder = pudding mix AU demerara sugar = golden brown sugar AU jelly crystals = flavored gelatin (Jell-O) AU kumara = sweet potato AU lamington pan = a rectangular baking pan (closest US measurement is 11 x 7") AU plain flour = all-purpose flour AU potato crisps = potato chips AU punnet = a basket holding about 250g of fruit (berries) AU rockmelon = cantaloupe AU slice or slices = bar cookies or other food baked in a casserole and sliced AU strong flour = bread flour AU tasty cheese = cheddar cheese AU tomato puree = tomato sauce AU tomato sauce = ketchup AU wholemeal = wholewheat

Those photos of the cherry trees around the Imperial Palace are amazing! And that pork roast and kabocha gratin look yummy... now I know what I'm going to do with the pork roast in my freezer. Question: What type of oven/range do you have? Most of my friends in Japan had only stovetop burners, and a microwave or microwave/convection oven and toaster oven. Photo? Also, do you have hot running water or a separate water heater over the sink?

This has been a weird week because I've been using up leftovers (from the freezer) of the dishes I've made over the past few weeks... So we've had some strange combinations, like spaghetti with a sauce made from leftover beef stew in ale. Tonight's dinner was feather-light buttermilk pancakes from a recipe in my Russian cookbook, served with bacon, sour cream... and an avocado that had just turned ripe.

Checking my weekly Han Ah Reum circular, the price of Kokuho Rose New Variety Rice is US$9.99/20 lbs. I don't know if that is long grain or short/sushi rice, can't tell from the image. Click here for NY area circular. ← That's a good price for Kokuho Rose New Variety Rice - that's the short/sushi rice. Kokuho also has a lower grade of rice in a yellow package.

My husband and I often do this, too, because we find most restaurant dinner portions so large that one of us can't finish it. Or we'll order two or three appetizers and skip the entree. We usually order beverages and dessert, too, so the check adds up to as much as or more than it would if we "just" ordered two entrees. We've usually found the service to be just fine, especially if we explain that we're small eaters or that my husband is diabetic. We don't mind if the restaurant adds a fee for splitting an entree, and we leave a bigger-than-usual tip if the server has the kitchen split the entree for us, rather than just bringing an extra plate.

12 Countries: USA Canada Mexico England Scotland France Switzerland Italy Greece Israel Japan Hong Kong 3 Canadian Provinces: Quebec British Columbia Alberta 16 US States: New York New Jersey Connecticut Rhode Island Massachusetts Vermont Pennsylvania Maryland Virginia Minnesota Indiana Texas New Mexico California Washington Hawaii

Fascinating blog! You know, Kristin, I've been involved with Japan for more than 30 years (studying Japanese, traveling, staying with Japanese and American friends there, working as a consultant for a Japanese company for 10+ years), and it never once occurred to me to ask (or notice) that most Japanese are paid on the same day each month!!! And the price of rice in Japan astounds me. I buy 20 or 25-pound sacks of California-grown Kokohu Rose rice for about $10 to $12 (depending on the store and whether they're on sale). A few weeks ago, the local Wal-Mart ran a promotionl on a cheap brand of California rice for... if memory serves... $3.50 for a 25-pound sack! My refrigerator contents look a lot like yours, BTW, only the fridge and freezer are larger. If you ever decide you do want to move back to the USA, scope out Hawaii. I know you were in Maui some years ago... Several of my American friends who are married to Japanese or other Asians have done so, because the sense of community here is most like that of Japan. I'm going to have to check out the Japanese markets here for the Matcha Kit-Kats and the Iced Matcha au Lait! Matcha is one of my favorite flavors.

One of the sushi bars here uses sriracha (and I suspect a little mayo) in their "spicy tuna" base (chopped raw tuna that can be made into various sushi forms). My favorite way of eating it is their "spicy tuna cake," a layer of spicy tuna on top of a layer of rice, molded in a small round, topped with nori shreds, and plated with zig-zags of tobiko-enhanced mayo and sriracha sauce.

Hard to tell from the photos, but you most likely have the red shiso (or red & green -- I don't think they're much different). The "Korean shiso" is actually a related plant, also called Sesame plant, whose leaves are much larger. Several other ways to use shiso leaves are: wrap cubes of meat or poultry (one leaf per cube), skewer, and broil or grill shred and add to hot cooked rice shred and add to seasoned sushi rice (especially for musubi) I just bought some seeds for green shiso & will plant them whenever the rain clears up. I didn't have any luck growing shiso on my lanai last year maybe the seeds were bad. These come from a different supplier.

Hmmnn... by clicking the links and looking at the pictures, I realized culantro is the same as Vietnamese ngo gai or what's sold in English as sawtooth plant or sawleaf plant. It's one of the herbs that usually appears on the platter of raw vegetables brought out to garnish pho (rice noodle soup), along with regular or Thai basil, bean sprouts, cilantro, lemon wedges, and fresh green chiles.

Yay!!! I'd heard so much about it. As a relatively new member, It was frustrating not to be able to see the recipes everyone raved about so much... Now I have many happy days ahead of me! Thanks for all your hard work, everyone!

The flesh of the Keitt mango is golden-orange, like that of other mangoes. I've never seen a mango with green flesh... even the unripe ones (green-skinned) are pale yellow inside. IMHO, that dried mango was dyed, even if the label doesn't say so. BTW, I can't read Chinese, but the Japanese letters on the package also just say "Dried Mango."

Last night -- no pix as dinner was delicious but turned out to be non-photogenic: Deep-fried whole tilapia Grilled portobello mushrooms brushed with chimichurri sauce French baguettes with more chimichurri sauce The pan I used was too small for the tilapia, so when I turned it, the skin stuck to the bottom of the pan instead of going with the fish, and then the tail fell off. Now if I'd been a TV chef, I'd have another tilapia in reserve.... Tonight, we had oysters rockefeller (store-bought) and spaghetti puttanesca, followed by a "cheese course" of Old Amsterdam aged Gouda and matzoh! I'd been planning to serve a salad, but the oysters were so drenched in spinach that I think we'll skip the greens tonight. (edited for spelling)

Lapin à la cauchoise sounds delicious! I'll try it the next time I come upon a rabbit!

My favorite is French style with mustard sauce. I've also taken the leftovers and turned them into a wonderful soup with wild rice. BTW, when I was in France and bought fresh rabbit, the butcher asked if I wanted the blood, too. I said no, because I didn't know what to do with it (and had other plans for the rabbit anyway). If I had gotten the blood, how should I have used it?

GMTA! I made these the other night too... though mine were nowhere near as brown as yours. How long did you cook them the second time?

I cooked several interesting dinners this week, but have few photographs. Wednesday, still exploring the cuisine of Russia, I made Chakhokhbili, a Georgian dish of chicken cooked with tomatoes, lemon juice, and a mixture of fresh herbs (basil, parsley, cilantro, tarragon, mint). I served that with radishes in sour cream, and plain rice (my daughter vetoed the idea of a rice pilaf). Thursday, we had a windfall of small artichokes, which are usually hard to come by in Hawaii. So I tried something I've been meaning to for a long time: Carciofi alla Giudea (Jewish-style artichokes, as cooked in the Trastevere area of Rome, which was its old ghetto). We ate that with another spur-of-the-moment inspiration based on its availability in the market: Dungeness crab. For a grain dish, I served the kasha that had been left over from a few days earlier (cooked with bacon, and wild mushrooms and onion sauteed in bacon fat) which I sprinkled with Parmesan cheese to turn into a pilaf. It was even more delicious than the first time around, and my daughter admitted she had made a mistake by requesting plain rice again! Luckily, there was enough kasha to go around. We followed that with a storebought Tiramisu. I guess since we're leaning in that direction, our next stop on our worldwide culinary tour will be Italy.

Oh, but that's a collector's item for the hairdo alone!

Just finished a bowl of Cheerios, Froot Loops, blueberries, and skim milk. (It's my daughter's spring break so we all slept late... it would've been just Cheerios except she finished the box.) Now I'll go make myself a nice cup of French roast.

Crepes are traditional in Brittany, France (the Northwest). They're also popular as a street food in Paris. When they're served in other regions of France, it's usually in a Breton restaurant.